What use is an F-call?

If you're new to Amateur Radio, like I am, it can be daunting to be surrounded by other amateurs who have seen that, done that and wrote the book. As you interact with those amateurs it will quickly become apparent that they got to that place because they started something and tried it.

In today's culture we often solve a problem by throwing money at it. It's a perfectly valid approach to life, but it leaves behind the thrill of trying to make something work.

Having an Amateur License doesn't instantly transform you into a builder or inventor, it sort of creeps up on you. You get your shack set-up and you find that a particular thing you need, a switch, a connector, a patch-lead, or some other gadget cannot be found, is too expensive or takes three weeks to ship and you cannot live without it.

Perhaps you spend a little time online searching for other solutions and alternatives and you hit upon a web-page that has a fellow Amateur describing your problem and their solution, just as if the article was written specifically for you.

Inventing and building is part of Amateur Radio, it's what makes the backbone of the hobby and one day you might find out that a soldering iron isn't a scary tool at all.

Go and have a chat with an experienced Ham, have some coffee, bring a smile and be amazed.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB.